Etymology
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ceremonial (adj.)

c. 1400, "belonging to (religious) ritual," also as a noun, "a ceremonial practice," from Late Latin caerimonialis "pertaining to ceremony," from caerimonia (see ceremony). Related: Ceremonially.

Ceremonial means connected with or constituting or consisting of or fit for a ceremony (i.e. a piece of ritual or formality) or ceremonies .... Ceremonious means full of or resulting from ceremony i.e. attention to forms .... [Fowler]

Entries linking to ceremonial

ceremony (n.)

late 14c., cerymonye, "a religious observance, a solemn rite," from Old French ceremonie and directly from Medieval Latin ceremonia, from Latin caerimonia "holiness, sacredness; awe; reverent rite, sacred ceremony," an obscure word, possibly of Etruscan origin, or a reference to the ancient rites performed by the Etruscan pontiffs at Caere, near Rome.

Introduced in English by Wycliffe. Also from late 14c. as "a conventional usage of politeness, formality." The disparaging sense of "mere formality" is by 1550s.

updated on November 14, 2017

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Dictionary entries near ceremonial

cerebral

cerebration

cerebro-

cerebrovascular

cerebrum

ceremonial

ceremonious

ceremony

Ceres

Cereus

ceriph

© 2001-2023 Douglas Harper